Demountable automobile body



May 8, 1934. B. F. FITCH DEMOUNTABLE AUTOMOBILE BODY Filed June 23, 19512 Sheets-Sheet l 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.4

gnventox L, e7. 6 2/2? B. F. FITCH DEMOUNTABLE AUTOMOBILE BODY FiledJune 23, 1931 May 8, 1934.

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DEMOUNTABLE AUTOMOBILE BODY Benjamin F. Fitch, Greenwich, 001111.,assignor to Motor Terminals Company, Wilmington,

Dole, a corporation of Delaware Application June 23, 1931, Serial No.546,273

4 Claims.

In the transportation of freight, demountable automobile truck bodies,which may be lifted with their contents and placed on a flat car,provide for economical handling and minimize danger of loss or breakageof L.C.L. freight. For such purposes, I have developed a very efficientdemount-' able body, which forms the subject matter of my priorapplication, Serial No. 500,160, filed Decemher 5th, 1930.

Such demountable bodies may be employed for the handling of perishablegoods, fruits, etc, and in such cases it is sometimes desired to providemeans for continuously ventilating the container while it is in transit.On the other hand, during cold weather it is frequently desirable toclose the ventilation openings to prevent chilling the contents. One ofthe objects of the present invention is to provide verysimple, eifectivemeans for v causing and controlling such ventilation.

My demountable body, as set out in the application above mentioned,where its walls are of sheet steel, has inwardly projecting door jambs,so that the doors may be substantially flush on the exterior to providefor the most efficient handling on the truck. These inwardly projectingdoor jambs, which are preferably in the form of Z-bars, have, however, adisadvantage in providing sharp corners which may sometimes injurepackage freight when packed in light cartons.

Now in the present invention I have devised a means of at once providingthe desired ventilation, and also shielding the corners of the jambs toprotect the package freight. I accomplish this by mounting verticalshield plates within the container, each of which leads upwardly fromthe floor but terminates well below the roof and is secured at one edgeto the inner face of the door jamb and at the other edge is connected tothe container wall. Openings are made through the wall into the lowerportion of the flues, thus provided, and the draft entering through suchopenings passes from the upper end of the flue into the interior of thebody, thence over the contents and out through the corrugated roof,which acts to provide a Venturi suction, making a material draft intransit.

Thus, at one time I prevent the packages from engaging a sharp corner ofthe jamb; I stiffen the body construction and I provide a ventilationflue which is in an idle region of the container. The flues may be shutoff, whenever desired, by suitable dampers at the upper ends thereof.

My invention is illustrated in the drawings in connection with thesedrawings, and the essential features are summarized in the claims.

In the drawings, Fig. l is a side elevation of a fiat car carrying twoof my demountable bodies, each having the ventilating flues of thisinvention; Fig. 2 is an end View of one of such bodies, illustrating itin the act of being lifted from, or lowered onto, the car; Fig. 3 is avertical section transversely of the car looking toward one of the enddoors, as indicated by the line 3-3 on Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a longitudinalsection through a portion of the container adjacent one end, the planeof the section being indicated by the line 4-4 on Figs. 2 and 3;- Fig. 5is a horizontal section through ventilating flues at the end and at theside of the car, as indicated by the line 5-5 on Fig, 4; Figs. 6 and '7are details in horizontal and vertical section of the flue damper andits locking device.

As illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, A indicates a suitable flat car,equipped with positioning devices a, (shown as external corner brackets,though projections adapted to engage sockets beneath the container floormight be used) B indicates a demountable body adapted to be placed onthe car and located by means of these positioning devices.

The body B has a suitable base frame 10, composed of suitable structuralshapes, this base frame carrying a flooring 11. Sheet metal side walls12 and end walls 13 rise from the base frame and carry a roof 15, formedof corrugated metal, arranged in an arch and with the serpentine linesthereof extending longitudinally, thus presenting a succession ofdownwardly facing transverse troughs terminating at the eaves, andproviding a series of ventilation spaces leading to the outside of thecontainer. A longitudinal wooden protection strip may be mounted abovethe roof sheets in this region to prevent possible damage to the edgeportions of the roof sheets or crushing of the corrugation, which mightreduce the ventilation spaces.

The doors 20 of my container are located preferably in pairs at eachside of the container and at each end thereof. These doors seat ininwardly projecting jambs which are preferably in the form of Z-bars 19,having their outer flanges secured to the wall 12 or 13 of the car, andtheir inner flanges projecting across the door opening. The door thusseats in the rabbet provided by the intermediate web and the flange, theouter face of the door being substantially flush with the outer side ofthe container.

To provide the ventilation flues at the ends of the container, I securevertical plates 30 to the inner flange of the Z-bars 19 and extend themparallel with the wall 13, these plates be ing bent at 31 at their outeredges and there secured to the side walls of the container. At the sidedoors, I provide shield plates 32 which are secured to the inner facesof the Z-bars l9 and then extend, at an acute angle, to the side of thecontainer, and finally have slightly bent edge portions 33 secured tothe side wall 12.

The construction just described is illustrated in section in Fig. 5,from which it will be seen that I have protected the corners of the doorjambs both at the ends and the sides of the con tainer. and have alsoprovided a vertical flue in practically idle spaces within the containerand back of the door edges. Suitable openings 40 and 41 through the endand side walls of the container into the vertical spaces at the ends andsides, furnish admission to the flues, which act to direct the airpassing through the openings upwardly and discharging it into the car atthe top of the shield plates, these shield plates terminating in asuitable intermediate region in the height of the container.

It will be seen that, by locating the entrance openings near the bottomof the flues and the discharge at the top, any passage of water into theinterior of the container, by reason of the flue, is prevented. Suchwater as enters the flue is drained out through suitable opening whichmay, for instance, pass through the wall, as indicated at 45, in Fig. 3.

To prevent mice or birds from passing into the fiues through theopenings 40 or 41, I prefer to secure across these openings, on theinner side of the walls 12 or 13, a suitable screen 46, welded, orotherwise secured, to the wall sheet.

The lines conduct the air upwardly along the car wall, then discharge itover the top of the contents, and then the air is drawn out by Venturisuctions through the openings provided by the corrugated sheets. Thiscauses a continuous draft, when the container is in motion, over the topof the goods in the container, which serves to carry away the moisturearising therefrom, and maintains perishables in good condition.

To enable the flues to be readily closed for cold weather, I provide, atthe upper end of each flue, a damper 50. This damper is shown as a platehinged to the shield plate 30 or 32 on a pin 52. This pin, beyond thehinge, is bent at right angles to the pintle portion to furnish a handle53. This handle engages a spring retainer 55 secured to the containerwall and having depressions to retain the handle in either of itsextreme positions.

When the flue is active, the handle 53 stands vertical and the damper isidle against the inner face of the flue sheet, as shown in Fig. 7. When,however, it is desired to close the flue, the operator grasps the upperend of the handle and pulls it inwardly oi the container, bringing itinto position shown in broken lines in Fig. '7, where the damper extendsacross the flue and closes it. The other depression in the springretainer 55 now holds the damper handle in this new position untilreleased by the operator shoving outwardly on the upper end of thehandle.

It will be seen that my fiues occupy practically idle spaces in thecontainer, and that the flue sheets are of positive advantage inshielding the sharp corners of the door jambs and also providestructural braces for the jambs, increasing the rigidity of thecontainer. The fines are very efiective in directing the air into theupper portion of the container, while the corrugated roof causes itsrapid exit as the car moves, so that ventilation is insured.

The drawings illustrate the flue sheets as extending well toward theroof, but, for some uses, it is desirable to terminate them considerablylower than illustrated, and the height may be varied as desired,provided the top of the fiue is sufficiently above the entrance openingsso that water cannot pass into the interior.

My damper provision is simple, easily and cheaply applied, and will holditself either in the active or inactive position during the use of thecontainer, but may be readily changed whenever desired by the attendantin the interior of the container. When once set by him, and the doorsclosed and locked, there is no danger of its being changed until thedoors are opened.

I claim:

1. A container having a side Wall with a doorway in it, an inwardlyextending door jamb carried by the side wall and comprising a Z-bar, asheet secured to the inner flange of the Z-bai. and extending at anacute angle toward the side wall and having its other edge secured tothe side wall, there being an opening through the side wall into theflue thus provided and an opening from the flue into the interior of thecontainer.

2. A container having a side wall of single thickness with a doorway init, an inwardly extending door jamb carried by the side wall, a sheetsecured to the inner edge of the door jamb and extending at an acuteangle toward the side wall and having its other edge secured to the sidewall, there being an opening through the side wall into the flue thusprovided, and an opening from the flue into the interior of thecontainer.

3. A container having a floor, a roof, side and end walls, one of theend Walls being provided with a doorway having an inwardly extendingdoor jamb, and means for converting the idle space between the door jamband side wall of the car into a ventilation flue, comprising a transversely arranged vertical plate secured to the door jamb and spaced fromthe end wall and leading from the floor of the car to a position welltoward the roof, there being an opening through the lower portion of theend wall of the car into such flue.

4. A container having a floor, a roof, and side and end walls, each ofsaid walls being of a single thickness, a doorway in an end wall, aninwardly extending door jamb carried by said end wall, and a sheetsecured to the inner edge of the door jamb, said sheet extendingsubstantially parallel to said end wall to the side wall, to form aflue, said flue extending upwardly from a point adjacent the floor to aregion below the roof, there being an opening through the wall of thecontainer into the lower portion of the flue and the upper portion ofthe flue opening into the interior of the container.

BENJAMIN F. FITCH.

